Op-Ed: Mental health and America’s juvenile detention centers

Two weeks ago, cities across the United States held rallies and teach-ins advocating for freeing Bresha Meadows, a 15-year-old black girl from Ohio who allegedly killed her abusive father. Despite the fact that the killing was claimed to be in self-defense, prosecutors are determined to try Bresha for “aggravated murder,” which means they believe the crime was premeditated. Currently, Meadows is being held at a juvenile detention center in Ohio.

Meadows' case is a prime example of the racist nature of America’s justice system. In this country, people like George Zimmerman can get away with murder thanks to a “stand your ground” law, but black girls and women, such as Meadows and Marissa Alexander, can be tried and imprisoned for self-defense against abusive family members.

Meadows' case also illustrates the way juvenile detention centers across America are threatening young adults’ mental health. For a portion of her time in the juvenile detention center, Meadows was on suicide watch. Supporters from the Free Bresha Meadows Campaign recently wrote in a Facebook post, "We continue to worry about her mental health and wellness as long as she continues to be jailed." Fortunately, Meadows is currently no longer on suicide watch — but her situation is still precarious.

Juvenile detention centers are one of the breeding grounds for mental health issues and suicide. According to a report titled “Stop Solitary” from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the major problems is the fact that juveniles are placed into solitary confinement. This can lead to days of isolation, where prisoners who are already forced to be far away from their support bases have no one to turn to. Isolation has drastic consequences. Sixty percent of youth who committed suicide in juvenile detention centers had previously been held in isolation — being in solitary deprives youth of the "social stimulation" that they rely on and can harm their development.

Another problem with juvenile detention centers is that they cause high levels of depression. Research published in a study on "Depression Among Incarcerated Delinquents" states that for “one-third of incarcerated youth struggling with depression, the onset of depression occurred after they began their incarceration.” These mental illnesses often go without receiving effective treatment while juveniles are at the detention center.

Detention centers' main purpose is to hold juveniles who committed a crime and are likely to either miss their trial or are deemed too dangerous to be in public while waiting for their trial to occur. However, juvenile detention centers often tend to make the situation worse, not better. A report from the Justice Policy Institute established that juveniles who are placed in detention are more likely to commit a crime once again after they exit the system. In fact, a prior commitment in a detention center was a greater indicator of recidivism than carrying a weapon, membership in a gang and poor parental relationships.

Much like adult prisons, another problem with juvenile detention centers is that they punish people of color at a much higher rate than whites. Meadows' case is one of the examples of the fact that 61 percent of youths trapped in detention centers are people of color, despite the fact that people of color make up only about a third of the youth population and the fact that white youths and youths of color engage in delinquent behavior at about the same rate.

It is clear that juvenile detention centers are doing much more harm than good. They are greatly endangering the mental health of the youth in America who are already suffering. As the ACLU says, a necessary first step to take is going to be eliminating solitary confinement of youths. States such as New York have already done this. New York instituted instead the “Sanctuary Model," which "emphasizes trauma-informed care in lieu of punitive responses to youth misbehavior."

Juvenile detention centers are traumatizing America's youth, but there are things that you can do to help. You can sign this ACLU Petition to stop solitary confinement of juveniles. You can also sign this petition to free Meadows and help one of the many individuals unfairly trapped by America’s “justice” system.

 

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